Why all these arguments about why Apple should or shouldn't have a 5-in iphone? Just wait a bit, either the big-screen phone wave will die down or Apple will release a 5-in iphone. Just as simple as that as Apple decided to follow the small screen tablet with the ipad mini. That was a right decision. (or not?? depends on how you look at it. But who cares, it's here.)

Receiving daily use. You really think Apple would make a 5" phone one year after their 4" phone?

Not as a replacement for the 4" and I doubt they'd use a resolution not already being utilized hence my 4.94" prediction weeks back. Note they released the iPad (3) with double the resolution in the same year as the iPad mini. If they deem the market worthy enough to enter and consider a 264 PPI display still highly usable without any damage to their iPhone brand than I think it could happen with as much upheaval as with the iPad mini.

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Receiving daily use. You really think Apple would make a 5" phone one year after their 4" phone?

I'm glad to hear it.

And yes I do. That's 5" give or take. Apple would be foolish to not tap such a large market. For the purpose of this topic, I think there are four groups of phone customers, two of which Apple could appeal to with a larger phone:

1. People who own the iPhone and want nothing larger than 4" or who might even be unhappy with Apple's choice to move up to 4". These people will not choose the larger iPhone.

2. People who own the iPhone and want a larger device. These people will be attracted to the larger iPhone.

3. People who own Android phones simply because they want a larger screen but would prefer to use an iPhone. These people will be attracted to a larger iPhone.

4. People who own Android phones because they prefer Android over iOS. These people will not choose the larger iPhone.

I'm not going to give you any citations because this is purely speculative, but I think category 2 is at least 50% of the current iPhone market, though clearly not 50% of the vocal forum members here. I think category 3 is between 20% and 30% of the current Android market.

Regardless of where the market percentages actually lie (be it 30% of iPhone users or 50% of Android users...you name it), I think there is a market that Apple is ignoring.

Apple has demonstrated that the unexpected is possible when it's done for the right reasons. Switching to Intel, switching to unix, discontinuing the XServe, making an MP3 player, making a phone, making a tablet, making a slightly smaller tablet, making a widescreen phone without comprimising the width of the device.

A few people saying 'I want one' isn't enough to be the right reason. There would have to be significant market demand, which isn't demonstrated in the sales figures when the iPhone 5 outsells all of them:

Simple fact of life is that people have their own personal preferences about screen size, and the closely correlated device size. This is true of smartphones, as it is true of Notebook computers, as it is true of tablets.

Apple recognises this in the last two categories, offering multiple screen sizes in iPads and MacBooks. Time for them to offer more choice with the iPhone. Otherwise they lose sales, and marketshare, and down the line, then developers ... and become even more of niche seller.

This is something people dont grasp, people do buy different products based entirely on their preference of what they want. If there is a market for a bigger (or smaller) product then Apple would be unwise to not tap it, especially if its going to sit at the premium end of the spectrum.

Now people complaining about having a bigger screen cause it makes the phone more difficult to use most likely havent realized there are some glaring usability problems with iOS that just dont make any sense anymore and need to be changed pretty damn soon. Jumping from the 4 to a Nexus device and now the 5 these have stood out the most

Just a couple of examples is that the back button is in the top left corner of numerous apps...this made sense when the screen was smaller but now its pretty difficult to use the phone easily with one hand, Android hasn't had this issue since their system controls are on the bottom of the phone.

Next issue is the music controls, when in the app they are on the bottom (makes sense its easier to skip and play songs) but on the lock screen music controls are at the top and that means you have to rake your hand across the phone and that simply just doesn't make sense. Android puts the music controls in the middle of screen which makes it far easier to reach. I wish iOS did this but that would require a retooling of how notifications work on the home screen.

If Apple pushes beyond the paradigm they've established and make some changes to iOS i dont think Apple adding a bigger screen will make any problems with usability

Apple has demonstrated that the unexpected is possible when it's done for the right reasons. Switching to Intel, switching to unix, discontinuing the XServe, making an MP3 player, making a phone, making a tablet, making a slightly smaller tablet, making a widescreen phone without comprimising the width of the device.

A few people saying 'I want one' isn't enough to be the right reason. There would have to be significant market demand, which isn't demonstrated in the sales figures when the iPhone 5 outsells all of them:

There would have to be a very good reason why they would go back on what they said about the iPhone size being designed around the comfortable reach of a human thumb.

Like I said earlier, arguing that there isn't demand for a larger iPhone simply because it outsells all other phones is fallacious. There is only one phone running iOS: the iPhone. All sales of iOS phones are sales of iPhones. People have no choice but to choose the iPhone if they prefer iOS to Android. If in some parallel universe iOS was running on a multitude of phones including but not limited to the iPhone, iPhone sales would be dramatically lower because the market for devices running iOS would be fragmented among many handsets. And if in that same parallel universe, the iPhone was by far the best selling iOS device, then we could begin to draw conclusions about its success. Would it be the screen size? Would it be the build materials? Would it be the home button? Would it be the speaker quality? Nobody knows because that universe isn't our universe. In our universe, all we know is that more people buy phones with iOS than buy specific phones made by Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Sony, LG, or any other manufacturer.

Calls for Apple to make an iPhone with a larger display around 5 inches diagonally are growing among investors, who see a big-screen iPhone as a major revenue opportunity.

Apple's also leaving money on the table by not selling cinnamon raisin bread, raspberry wheat beer, and trips to the moon.

"leaving money on the table" is a stupid reason to push for a change in strategy. Unless you sell 100% of everything that someone needs, you're ALWAYS leaving money on the table. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, being focused on producing a narrower line of industry leading products has been demonstrated to be the more profitable choice - just look at Apple's results next to HTC, for example.

"I'm way over my head when it comes to technical issues like this"Gatorguy 5/31/13

Apple's also leaving money on the table by not selling cinnamon raisin bread, raspberry wheat beer, and trips to the moon.

"leaving money on the table" is a stupid reason to push for a change in strategy. Unless you sell 100% of everything that someone needs, you're ALWAYS leaving money on the table. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, being focused on producing a narrower line of industry leading products has been demonstrated to be the more profitable choice - just look at Apple's results next to HTC, for example.

It's a pretty big table and Apple is eating plenty. I guess investors want Apple to eat it all.

"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example" Mark Twain"Just because something is deemed the law doesn't make it just" - SolipsismX

Add phone capability to the iPad and iPad mini, and another phone to match the samsung 3, and shut everyone up. Having an iPad, it would be great to be able to take a phone call with a bluetooth headset while collaborating on a spreadsheet on the screen.

I’m genuinely curious as to why you want a phone with a bigger display? Everyone I have seen with a large Android device pressed against their heads looks like absolute twats. I can understand wanting a bigger display for content such as games/books/movies etc but then why wouldn’t you just get an iPad?

Apple has explained why they went for the 4” display, it’s the biggest they could go and still maintain one handed operation.

I find it rather easy to operate my 4.6" galaxy Nexus with one hand. I am 6'-4" with big hands and simply find the iPhone too small...

I Started with Android because i have to use Verizon, but I stayed with it because I simply liked the screen and size of the Galaxy Nexus over the iPhone 4 which was the iPhone at the time. I can't see the 1/2" added to the bottom of the iPhone 5 much of a reason to switch to the iPhone...

Seven people at my office got new phones in the last two months of the year. All but one got Galaxy phones over iPhones (Two Switched from iPhone 4).

I’m genuinely curious as to why you want a phone with a bigger display? Everyone I have seen with a large Android device pressed against their heads looks like absolute twats. I can understand wanting a bigger display for content such as games/books/movies etc but then why wouldn’t you just get an iPad?

Apple has explained why they went for the 4” display, it’s the biggest they could go and still maintain one handed operation.

I need a bigger screen because i do a lot of internet on my phone and i need something between a tablet and a small phone for the job. I also would like a bigger screen because i cant see well at short distance now. I used low prescription glass for reading but i dont carry those all the time. 5" phones are here to stay, regardless of the people you thinks that because they dont need them, nobody needs them.

Another thing i like about the nexus 4 is its only 360$ unlock. Its the most popular phone at my work place amount people shopping for a new phone.

The Nexus 4 is made by LG. I don't want to speak for the other gentleman, but the Nexus 4 is on the same level of quality as an iPhone 4 or 4s. Glass back/front, it's a very well made phone. My overall opinion is that Android phones are crap, cheaply made - except for this one. If Google and it's hardware partners continue on that path, watch out.

Again, I don't want to speak for the other guy as your question was directed at him, not me - but 4.7 inches (Nexus 4) isn't much larger than the iPhone 5. I will agree on the 5 + inch behemoths, etc, it's just ugly. I know people love the Galaxy Note but it's just too big to use as a phone (my opinion)

But 4.7" on the Nexus is pretty much usable with one hand. As much so as my iPhone 5.

Indeed. Most of the android devices dont have well balance specs and often have huge bottlenecks. But the nexus 4 is very well design and balance allowing a very nice price for what you get. Imo its beats the crap out of the more expensive iphone 4 and iphone 4s. To top it off I think android as leap over iOS in terms of innovation and power, making it a better OS for the moment.

It makes wonder what the hell is apple doing? They are sitting on pile of cash and not doing much of anything with it.

A few people saying 'I want one' isn't enough to be the right reason. There would have to be significant market demand, which isn't demonstrated in the sales figures when the iPhone 5 outsells all of them:

Oh... so the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S weren't selling that well so Apple brought out the 4" iPhone 5 to compete with the larger phones that were selling well...

Indeed. Most of the android devices dont have well balance specs and often have huge bottlenecks. But the nexus 4 is very well design and balance allowing a very nice price for what you get. Imo its beats the crap out of the more expensive iphone 4 and iphone 4s. To top it off I think android as leap over iOS in terms of innovation and power, making it a better OS for the moment.

It makes wonder what the hell is apple doing? They are sitting on pile of cash and not doing much of anything with it.

If it's not this issue it's another:
No cheap feature phone for developing markets
No NFC chip
No SD card slot
No OLED screen with PenTile
No quad core CPU
No removable battery
No side loading of apps
No Android

All with the same justification: "Android is winning! Samsung is winning! Tim Cook needs to copy them to stay competitive!"

1. Apple will eventually make a 4.5-5" phone (and perhaps keep making a smaller model as well).

2. About 95%* of the people who have written in this thread to argue that either (a) that Apple never will do so and/or (b) that such a device would be useless/dangerous/thiefbait will eventually own and like one. I would save the evidence of what they're saying now so that I can write "gotcha" when they reverse themselves later, but I'm too lazy.

* Respect to tallest skil for not reversing himself on the value of the iPad mini...so far. He did have to admit he was wrong about the market demand for it, though.

Bonus thought: IMO, I think 4.5" is the right size for a phone, 7" (4x3 aspect) the right size for an ebook reader, and 10" (16x9 or 16x10) the right size for a full-function tablet. But I'm not going to pretend that my preferences are the God-Given Truth for everybody.

Poor eyesight is a big driver behind these big phones. Seniors like the simplicity of use of iOS, but they can't see what they're doing because they're old with crappy eyesight. They love the ipad because they can see it. Just give them the big iphone they want and I'll buy one too.

You keep saying it, but providing no proof. The Mac is a niche player, period. It's a great computer, but it's not for everyone, and the market mostly has dismissed it, thus far. I love the Mac, but lets get real here. It's only a few percentage points above Linux in the market, and if you factor in enterprise usage, it gets waxed by Linux. It's a niche player, period.

No, it's built for the middle man. For the everyone. It's the computer designed for the person in the middle of the road, everyone, as broad as possible, to cover as large a market as possible. The niches are the people for whom it doesn't work. The people who believe they need multiple internal hard drives or the ones who DO need copious amounts of RAM and workstation processors.

If apple doesnt have a big screen when my contract expires, i am buying a nexus phone. And i am not alone

Agree. I will also go with a larger screen if Apple does have one when my iphone contract expires--it would be first non-Apple phone since the iPhone was released. Also, no I don't want phone functions in an iPad mini. Finally, I also understand that many of you don't want a larger screen. That's fine. It's why there is an 11" and 13" MBA and a 13" and 15" MBP. People want some options with screen size. I will make due with pocketability problems and one handed operation problems to gain the benefits of the larger screen,

Apple could solve this issue by releasing two models and doing away with the others. 1. A plastic low end model with a 3GS body, lightning connector, and 4" screen. 2. A high end 5" screen with current body style of the ipad mini or current iphone five with upgraded internals. This would solve their problem with size of screens. Gives them a lower cost option and pushes lightning across all phones.

What about the people, who currently make up the vast majority of iPhone 5 and 4s users, who want a high end, smaller phone, with the best quality build anf best internals?